THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, May 16, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

Now Simulcasting 90.7 FM, and our new, stronger signal, 101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org


OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Feelin' Good by Levon Helm
Les Secrets D'Evangeline by Mama Rosin
Cajun Joe (The Bully 0f the Bayou) by Doug & Rusty Kershaw
Bully of the Town by Joe Maphis
The Gallows by Possessed by Paul James
Ten Million Slaves by Otis Taylor
Fishing Blues by Taj Mahall
Don't Go Cutting on My Cattle by Bone Orchard

Train of Life by Laura Cantrell
Bayou Tortous by James McMurtry
Time Heals by The Gear Daddies
Hillbilly Blues by Ronnie Dawson
Wolfman's Romp by The Juke Joint Pimps
How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away? by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
The Curley Shuffle by Jump 'N the Saddle
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Brother Williams' Memphis Sanctified Singers

COAL MINING SET
Lawrence Jones by Kathy Mattea
Last Train to Poor Valley by Norman Blake
16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford
Dark as a Dungeon by Merle Travis with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Working in the Coal Mine by Devo
Dreams of a Miner's Child by The Stanley Brothers
Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn
Paradise by John Prine
Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean
Que Creek by Buddy Miller
Timothy by The Buoys

The Last Word in Lonesome is Me by Roger Miller
Carbon-Dated Love by I See Hawks in L.A.
Former American Soldier by Chip Taylor
Buffalo Skinners by Woody Guthrie
Hank Williams' Ghost by Darrell Scott
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots
Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: IN THE MINES, IN THE MINES WHERE THE SUN NEVER SHINES

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 15, 2008


Back in the 1980s and ’90s, Kathy Mattea was one of Nashville’s dependable country/pop hit makers. Her voice was soulful, and she’d often allow folk and bluegrass elements in her music, though she never strayed too far from the Nashville formula.

But like many female singers in modern corporate country — think Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood — Mattea at some point fell out of favor with the evil druids of 16th Avenue who control the Country Music Industrial Complex. It would be a nasty accusation to say that Nashville would callously dump a singer because of age (Mattea turns 50 next year), but that’s how things seem to work out now, isn’t it?

The good news is that Mattea still has that soulful voice, and, being free of commercial pressure, she’s at liberty to follow her creativity. And she’s done that quite capably with her new album, Coal. The bad news is that the album won’t get the airplay and won’t make the money it deserves.

Mattea is a native of West Virginia and the granddaughter of coal miners (on both sides of her family). She was moved by the tragedy of the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in her home state, in which 12 men were killed. So she took a batch of fine songs about the mining life by the likes of Jean Ritchie, Hazel Dickens (outright radicals you’d never hear on conservative Hot New Country radio!), Merle Travis, and others; grabbed Marty Stuart to produce and play on it; and made one powerful little bluegrass-soaked concept album.

Mattea sings about the extremely backbreaking work that is coal mining. She sings about a profession where danger is double and pleasures are few. Then there are the health hazards, which Mattea addresses in her a cappella version of Dickens’ wrenching “Black Lung,” which closes the album.

Mattea also tells of the economic hardships when the mines shut down. Ritchie’s “Blue Diamond Mines” recounts the story of one such impacted community: “Now the union is dead and they shake their heads/Well, mining has had its day/But they’re stripping off my mountaintop/And they pay me eight dollars a day.” The song even name checks “John L.” — Lewis, that is — president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960. With Stuart on mandolin and Loveless on vocal harmonies, the song is a bittersweet treat.

Even harder-hitting is “Lawrence Jones,” which was written by Si Kahn, a folk singer, political organizer, and son of a rabbi man. This is a song about a bloody 13-month strike in Harlan County, Kentucky, that began in 1973. According to a 2006 article in The Nation, "The miners went out on strike, and an escalating fight ensued between gun thugs hired by Duke Power and the men and women on the picket line. Finally, a Duke Power employee shot miner Lawrence Jones in the face one night and Jones died at the hospital.”

“There’s blood upon the contract like vinegar in wine/And there’s one man dead on that Harlan Country line,” Mattea sings.

Musically, the album drags a bit on slow, mournful songs like “Red-Winged Blackbird” and “Coming of the Roads” (both written by Billy Edd Wheeler.) And I’ve heard better versions of “Dark as a Dungeon.” Otherwise, Coal is a diamond.

Bonus! Mining for coal songs — my personal favorites:

1. “Dark as a Dungeon” by Merle Travis with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Though lots of people have recorded this Travis tune, his version on Will the Circle Be Unbroken? is my favorite. Honorable mention: Johnny Cash’s cover of the song on his live At Folsom Prison album.

2. “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Working in a coal mine doesn’t pay well, but it apparently gives you license to kill those who refuse to step aside when they see you comin’. Tennessee Ernie’s is the coolest version of this classic Travis song, but I also like Stan Ridgway’s oddball arrangement.

3. “Quecreek” by Buddy Miller. Like Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” this song was ripped from the headlines. On the day Buddy was finishing his Midnight and Lonesome album in 2002, nine Pennsylvania coal miners who had been trapped for three days were rescued. Buddy’s wife, Julie Miller, wrote this song, which appears at the end of the album.

4. “Last Train From Poor Valley” by Norman Blake. The mines shut down, a marriage fails, and brown-haired Becky is Richmond-bound.

5. “Working in a Coal Mine” by Lee Dorsey. This funky 1966 tune by New Orleans soul man Dorsey made mining sound cool and funky. But just like Rose Royce’s song about working at a car wash 10 years later, the record was better than the reality. Devo covered Dorsey’s song, too, but can you imagine anyone being allowed to work in a mine wearing those silly Devo hats?

6. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” by Loretta Lynn. Coal mining can’t be that bad if it spawned Loretta.

7. “Dream of a Miner’s Child” by The Stanley Brothers. The plot of this traditional tune is simple: A little girl has a nightmare about a mining disaster and begs her dad not to go to work, but he ignores her. Guess what happens.

8. “Paradise” by John Prine. The tale of Mr. Peabody’s coal mine in Muhlenberg County and the greatest strip-mining protest song ever written.

9. “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean. Big John was the type of miner “Sixteen Tons” was written about: “Everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big John,” Jimmy drawls. Even though he’d killed a guy from Louisiana in a fight over a “Cajun queen,” John’s superhuman heroism in a cave-in redeems him. This is one of the greatest faux-folk songs from the era (late ’50s and early ’60s) that produced “The Battle of New Orleans,” “El Paso,” “Saginaw, Michigan,” “Long Black Veil,” and others.

10. “Timothy” by The Buoys. Just because you’re in a mining disaster doesn’t mean you have to start skipping meals.

Radio: You know dang well you’re going to hear a lot of these songs tonight (Friday) on the Santa Fe Opry, 10 p.m. on KSFR-FM 101.1.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: S. UDALL BACKS BEN RAY

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 15, 2008

U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, who is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate, has not and isn’t expected to make an endorsement in the crowded Democratic primary that likely will determine who will take his congressional seat.

But his dad has.

Former U.S. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall on Wednesday announced he’s supporting Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Luján for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

“I’ve followed (Luján’s) career, and I have a high regard for him,” the elder Udall said in a telephone interview. He said he likes Luján’s record on energy and environmental issues. “He’s interested in all the things I am,” Udall said.

Stewart Udall was a congressman from Arizona in the 1950s. He served in the cabinets of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. “I’m a very independent-minded individual at my old age,” he said. “I simply told Tom (about his decision to endorse Luján), and he didn’t object.”

A story for Hillary: During my conversation with Stewart Udall, he said this year’s presidential race reminds him of a situation with his brother, the late Arizona Congressman Mo Udall.

“My brother ran for president in 1976,” Stewart Udall said. Mo Udall lost the nomination to Jimmy Carter that year. A few years later, Mo Udall was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his brother noted, but that didn’t stop his desire for the White House.

“During Reagan’s first two years, there was a recession,” Stewart Udall said. “My brother talked to people saying he was thinking of running again. I brought a group of friends to talk him out of it. It’s a disease that’s progressive, and he’d have to think about the next five years.”

Apparently the group of friends were effective in talking Mo Udall out of another presidential bid. And after all, Stewart Udall said, “my brother was famous for the statement that once you get it in your mind that you’re the best candidate for president or the only one qualified, the only remedy is formaldehyde.”

This, Stewart Udall said, is applicable to Hillary Clinton.

More fun with endorsements: It’s that time of year, of course. Here’s a couple that caught my eye:

Long shot Democratic congressional candidate Jon Adams sent an e-mail Wednesday endorsing A.J. Salazar for district attorney. “A.J.’s record shows a commitment to fighting drunk driving, domestic violence, and crime across the board,” said Adams, a former assistant attorney general. “A.J. is exactly the kind of tough on crime district attorney we need.”

So far, Salazar hasn’t returned the favor.

Also on Wednesday, former Secretary of State Shirley Hooper endorsed Valerie Espinoza in her re-election bid for Santa Fe County clerk.

“It’s almost unreal that I gave (Espinoza) her first job when I was Secretary of State in 1979 and she gave me my last when she became County Clerk in 2005,” Hooper, Espinoza’s chief deputy until 2006, said in an e-mail.

And it’s not really an endorsement, but ... Española Mayor Joe Maestas, who is running for Public Regulation Commission, is mailing campaign literature with a picture of him with Gov. Bill Richardson, along with a quote saying: “Mayor Joe Maestas has a proven record of accomplishment and leadership and would make a great commissioner on the PRC.”

But Richardson said Wednesday that he isn’t actually endorsing in the race. “I like Joe Maestas, but I like Paul Campos and Louie Gallegos too,” he said. Maestas, the governor said, is the only PRC candidate to ask him. “I’ll pose with anybody who asks,” he said, “but it’s not an endorsement.”

Official state Dem blogger: The national Democrats have chosen the Albuquerque-based Democracy for New Mexico as the official New Mexico blogger at the Democratic National Convention this August in Denver.

DFNM’s Barbara Wold posted Wednesday: “Some months ago the DNC solicited applications from bloggers in all 50 states (plus several territories) to vie for one blogger slot per state. They’ll form what’s called the State Blogger Corps at the Convention. ... Each official state blogger will be credentialed for seating with the state’s delegation on the Convention floor, and will be an integral part of the Convention action.”

I’m not official, but I’ll be blogging from the convention as well (right here on this blog) in addition to my regular duties writing stories for The New Mexican.

MY $600

I just received my $600 from the IRS.

I paid $500 on my car, knocking off a couple of months payments and a little interest.

But I didn't want to be completely unpatriotic by paying debts instead of buying new stuff.

So I spent about $40 on Amazon for two out-of-print CDs in the LAS VEGAS GRIND series (volumes 1 and 6). One satisfied customer wrote, "Some of the raunchiest, sleaziest, most glouriously (sic) outdated rock 'n' roll you'll ever hear." (You'll be hearing some of these albums on Terrell's Sound World soon after they arrive.)

Earlier tonight I paid almost $40 for a tank of gas. So that leaves me about $20 to stimulate the economy.

MORE ON THE PUSH POLL

I found out a lot more about the Common Sense Issues push poll -- sorry "personalized educational artificial intelligence poll." READ IT HERE.

Turns out that Udall's not the only target. In fact. at least until the primary's over he's not even the main target. That would be Heather Wilson.

“Congresswoman Heather Wilson did not vote for (a bill to outlaw transporting) minors across state lines for abortions nor did she vote to save the life of Terri Schiavo. And Heather Wilson supported spending federal dollars to fund life-destroying human embryonic stem-cell research.”

That's one of the things you hear if you tell the automated caller you support Wilson. Indicating you support other candidates takes you down diffrent paths. (CSI executive director Patrick Davis was nice enough to have the company call me at home so I could hear what happens when you say you support Pearce, Wilson and Udall.)

Here is a link to a Time magazine story about CSI's activites in the Iowa Caucuses. Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was supported by the group, publicly disavowed the push polling for him, though the Mitt Romney campaign questioned the sincerity of the disavowal.

PUSHING THE POLLS

Push- polling. Now there's a fun little political sport.

"Would you vote for George Papoon if you knew he liked to stomp on little baby ducks while he raises your taxes?"

Push-polls are telephone calls designed not to determine statistics about voter opinion but to spread negative information about a candidate in the form of questions.

"Would you vote for George Leroy Tirebiter if you knew that he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die?

The first push-poll of the season has been spotted in New Mexico according to a fund-raising e-mail from Tom Udall’s Senate campaign. Apparently it's from a national conservative group that emphasizes right-to-life issues.

“We’ve just received some disturbing news from one of our staff — the GOP ‘Swift Boat’ attacks on Tom Udall have begun here in New Mexico. She got an automated ‘push-poll’ phone call from an organization misleadingly calling itself ‘Common Sense Issues’ this weekend,” said the e-mail from Amanda Cooper, Udall’s stepdaughter and campaign manager.

Cooper couldn’t be reached for comment about details of the poll Monday.

Representatives of CSI couldn’t be reached for comment Monday night at the phone number listed on its Web site. So if the report is true, we still don't know what information was being passed in the phone calls or how true or false it was.

A Jan. 9 story in Newsweek said, “Common Sense Issues is a tax-exempt group registered in Delaware whose organizers have acknowledged the use of controversial telephone polling tactics to promote (Mike) Huckabee presidential bid — and allegedly to trash the campaigns of the former Arkansas governor’s rivals.” Huckabee’s campaign denied any connection with the group.
Common Sense Issues’ Web site lists “life issues” as its top priority. Among other issues listed are liberty, economics, national security, “natural family” and “confronting radical Islam.”

Udall is running unopposed in the Democratic Senate primary. Republicans Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce are duking it out in the Republican primary.

If you didn't get a call from this push poll, don't worry. There's bound to be more in the general election.

DOMENICI ENDORSES GONZALES

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici endorsed Marco Gonzales in the Republican primary for the Third Congressional District.

The endorsement isn't that surprising considering Gonzales -- who is running against Rio Rancho contractor Dan East -- worked for Domenici for 10 years. Then again, the retiring senator isn't endorsing in the Heather Wilson/Steve Pearce U.S. Senate primary, even though Wilson has long been considered his protégé .

Here's the text of a postcard sent to CD 3 Republicans:

Dear Friend:
I'm so pleased that Marco Gonzales is running for congress to represent northern New Mexico.
I have known and been friends with Marco for over 20 years. Marco started his public service career by serving as my legislative assistant while attending college and law school at night.
I have seen firsthand Marco's dedication and commitment to New Mexico and have confidence in his ability to effectively represent the third district--from day one.
I have enjoyed seeing Marco advance his professional career back
home in New Mexico and re-establish his northern roots. Because Marco understands our unique cultures and interests and is a man of principle and conviction, I know he will serve us well in Congress.
That's why I'm supporting his candidacy and wanted to take a moment to encourage you to do the same. But don't just take it from me. I encourage you to call Marco or join him at upcoming event.
Talk to Marco about the issues facing our nation and learn more about his views for the future of New Mexico. I am confident that after you do, you too, will see the same qualities, talents, and views that have me supporting his candidacy for congress.
In closing, I want to thank you again for you support as I have worked to represent you in the United States Senate. It has been my honor to serve you and the state of New Mexico for the past 37 years.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, May 27, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Backstreet Girl by Social Distortion
Hey Grandma by Moby Grape
Mindblower by Link Wray
Wild About You Baby by Hounddog Taylor
Who You Driving Now by Mudhoney
Watching the Detectives by Elvis Costello
The Big Heat by Stan Ridgway

HAPPY MUMMIE'S DAY!
Teenage Mummy Radio Spot #1
I'm a Mummy by The Fall
The Ballad of Iron Eyes Cody by The Mummies
The Fez Man Walks by The A-Bones
Jenny is Feeling Bad by Mummy the Peep Show

Up Side by ? & The Mysterians
Howl by Iggy Pop
Hairball Alley by Rocket From the Crypt

This is My Life by Firewater
Sailor's Wife by Babylon Circus
Through the Roof 'n' Underground by Gogol Bordello
Romana by Kultur Shock
Twoj Moj Czas by Kult
200 Flying Girls by The Red Elvises
Sticky Little Girl by Zee Rok
Siki Siki Baba by Kocani Orkestar

Forks and Knives by Beirut
WPLJ by The Mothers of Invention
Wine-O Boogie by Don Ramon Sr.
Vikings by The Black Angels
She Lives (In a Time of Her Own) by The 13th Floor Elevators
Lightning's Girl by Nancy Sinatra
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

R.I.P. EDDY ARNOLD

Country singer Eddy Arnold died last week at the age of 89. Read about him HERE .

I think my favorite Eddy Arnold hit was his version of Roger Miller's "The Last Word in Lonsesome is Me."

According to Jim Terr, this photo, by his friend music historian Tony Byworth, might be one of the last ever taken of Eddy. (Photo(c) 2008. Used by permission.)

eMusic MAY

*White Trash Girl by Candye Kane. Big beautiful Candye is a natural-born belter specializing in sexy blues "Work What You Got" is a song title on this 2005 album, but it's also Candye's guiding philosophy.

She does a tough, bluesy version of The Lovin' Spoonfuls' :What a Day for a Daydream"and a funny tune called "Estrogen Bomb." But my favorite here has to be a song that we used to sing in grade school "Let There Be Peace on Earth." (No, I didn't go to some hippie free school -- it was a regular public elementary school in Oklahoma in the '60s. Pretty hip, no?) Of course we didn't sing it with a fraction of Candye's soul.

Last month Candye underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. She's recovering now and reportedly feeling better. Check out her Web site.


* Never Been Caught by The Mummies . They hailed from San Francisco, but they were a lot more Rice-a-Roni than Haight Ashbury. Spending more money on their Ace Bandage costumes, or so it would seem, than on their pawn-shop instruments, The Mummies called their sound "Budget Rock" (not to be confused with The Fleshtones' "Super Rock."). And it was a pretty apt description, as the production of their music did have a pronounced bargain-basement quality about it. This album, originally released in 1992, sounds like a lost cheap cassette bootleg of some teen dance at a VFW show in South Dakota in the mid '60s (Anybody remember Spider & The Crabs???!!!) When I hear The Mummies rip through The Young Rascals' "Come on Up" and The Righteous Brothers' "Justine" my first instinct is to scream out "Little Latin Lupe Lu!" And then there's "Mariconda's a Friend of Mine," the lyrics of which have been passed down generation to generation in elementary school boys' rooms.

* Memphis Sanctified Jug Bands 1928-1930. Jug band gospel music! What a concept! These tracks were recorded at a Church of God in Christ in Memphis. The album includes what has what has to be the greatest versions of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" I've ever heard. Unfortunately the individual artists aren't listed on the tracks, though the Document Records Web site indicates "Whole World" is performed by Brother Williams Memphis Sanctified Singers.

Not all the songs are jug tunes. There's also some good old fashioned Black preaching with a Holy Ghost-filled choir moaning the Word behind the minister, sometimes with a short jug-band interlude following.

(Memory Lane: In the late '70s I used to live a couple of doors down from a Church of God in Christ on Gallegos Lane right here in Santa Fe. Sometimes I'd hear some amazing gospel being sung there. The church, however, was sold by the early '80s. The building is still there though.)

* Daptone 7-Inch Singles Collection, Vol. 1 by Various Artists. How can you go wrong with Dap regulars like Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields? There's also worthwhile offerings by lesser-known singers like Charlie Bradley and the deep-voiced Naomi Davis, who does a funk-filled tune called "Promised Land" (not the Chuck Berry classic) And there's a couple of instrumental groups -- The Sugarman 3 and Company -- who sounds as if they're making soundtracks for a new crop of Cleopatra Jones movies.

This compilation just serves to show why Daptone has become synonymous with 21st Century soul. I just saw that Daptone is releasing a Volume 2 of this. Can't wait.


* Directions to See a Ghost by The Black Angels. This is the brand new album from Austin's psychedelic drone masters, released just a couple of months after I became aware of them. (I saw them at Roky Erikson's Ice Cream Social during SXSW). It's cool that eMusic had the album available a few weeks in advance of its release.

Virtually every track is a lengthy journey to the center of what's left of your mind, culminating in the 16-minute "Snake in the Grass," which features Oooga Boooga drums and layers of feedback.


* Trains and Boats and Planes by Laura Cantrell. This is a nine-song EP by this New York country gal. Most the songs are about modes of transportation. Her talent is only eclipsed by her great tastes. I knew it would be worth it alone for her covers of two of my favorite obscure country songs from the early '70s: Roger Miller's "Train of Life" (covered by Merle Haggard on his landmark Someday We'll Look Back album) and John Hartford's "Howard Hughes Blues" from his greatest Aereo-Plain. Plus there's versions of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and New Order's "Love Vigilantes," a sad soldier song that sounds like it was written as a country tune.